Guided Walking Tours

As a service to the community the Society has actively promoted the Historical Walking Tours of the City, an event that is offered to the public during summer events and to the schools as an outing.

Guided walking tours will be given on:

April 28
May 19
June 9
July 28
August 25
September 22

Each tour begins at the Vera Estey House, 16 Third Street, Presque Isle at 10:00 a.m., lasts approximately two hours and covers two miles. Tours are FREE and open to the public. Tours may also be arranged for groups and organizations on special dates and times. Please contact us by phone at 762-1151 or e-mail (pihistoricalsociety@hotmail.com) to arrange special tours.

Several tour locations have a "quick response" code on the historic explanation plaque. These sites are:

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GUIDED LANTERN TOURS

These one-hour tours begin and end at the Historic Fire Station at 11 Church Street. The tours are $3.00 per person. Approximately 10 historic, slightly scary and kinda creepy tales are told; includes tour of historic jail cells. October 26 and 27

If you wish to go on your own at your own convenience, you may use the Self-Guided Walking Tour brochure as a guide to historic sites. Many of these locations have a plaque with an historic explanation of the site.

Use Adobe Reader™ to view the Walking Tour Brochure

A GOOGLE MAPS VERSION OF WALKING TOUR

View Historical Walking Tour in a larger map

A NEW GUIDED WALKING TOUR LOCATION

The unveiling of the new plaque took place on October 19, 2010. Presque Isle Historical Society. From left are George Howe, City of Presque Isle, Chris Beaulieu, Director of Recreation & Parks, City of Presque Isle, Kim Smith, Presque Isle Historical Society, Billie Brodsky, Presque Isle Area Chamber of Commerce Board member and Industrial Council member, Floyd Rockholt, President of Presque Isle Rotary and Presque Isle Area Chamber of Commerce Board member.

The new plaque reads:

“After the “Big Fire” of 1883 destroyed most of Main Street, the Town of Presque Isle realized that buckets of water were insufficient to fight fires and pursued a program of fire prevention. A plan was developed to build a reservoir. In 1887, a New York contractor was hired to construct the reservoir. A man-made lake was dug and filled with water from the Kennedy Brook one mile southeast from the center of town with an elevation of 80 feet to provide pressure. The lake, named Mantle Lake after the contractor, created a system of pipes that led from the lake to Main Street also providing running water to a few homes and a primitive sewer system. In June 1953, the Lions Club built the first picnic pavilion. Eight more picnic pavilions were added in 1957. The tennis courts were completed and open to the public in 1962.”